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Monday, 3 August 2015

Things I've Learnt from Moving House

Things I've Learnt from Moving House

Last week we finally exchanged and
completed and it was time to say goodbye to our little 2 bedroom flat
which we have been in for the last 10+ years. We loved living there
but we just ran out of room and wanted somewhere bigger for Elliot to
grow up in.

We're still in cardboard box city with
lots to unpack but I thought I'd share 10 things I've learnt from
moving!

1. Toddlers do not have the patience
for packing

I attempted to pack the bulk of
Elliot's toys prior to our moving day but he always seemed to want
the toy that had been packed away! We had a couple of meltdowns where
he wanted something specific that was buried under a pile of boxes
and he just didn't understand why he couldn't play with it. It was
also quite hard packing with him the same room – as fast as the
items were going in the box, he'd be behind me pulling things out
saying “oooh what's this mummy!”

2. I am far too optimistic

The day before our moving
day, I said to my sister “the hard bit is out the way, tomorrow
will easy!”. I thought it would be a case of money transferred
first thing in the morning, the removal men arrive on cue at 11am
and we'd be in our new home mid afternoon and able to unpack.
Erm....it definitely didn't go like that!

3. I do not cope well
under stress!

I'm not one of life's
flappers, I just get on with things and don't generally let stress
get to me. Not the case on moving day! There were tears....there were
frantic phonecalls...there was lots of flapping...there was frantic
dashes to my parents house to borrow their printer....there were more
tears. I felt so stressed that I didn't even remember to eat all day
– this is unheard of for me!! ;)

4. We had far more stuff
than I realised

It took the removal men two
trips to take all our stuff plus 3 cars full....I definitely didn't
think we had so much! I just kept finding boxes that had been stored
away in the garage.

5. My husband is a bit of
a hoarder

Out from the garage came a
big bag of stuffed toys and apparently one from his childhood that
he couldn't bare to be parted with! (It'll be going straight into
our a new garage, never to see the light of day again!)

6. Hire good removal men

The removal men I hired
weren't the cheapest but they had great reviews on Checkatrade and
they were amazing!! The way they packed the lorry was just
incredible, like a jigsaw puzzle and they used every spare inch.
They worked solidly for 5 hours and definitely earned their money!

7. Moving day is made
easier when you have friends and family to help

There's no way we could have
done it without a little bit of help – my Mum looked after Elliot,
my Dad stayed at the new house while we went back and forth with
boxes, and our friends filled their cars with our junk. My parents
then returned the next day to help with the unpacking. Team effort!

8. There's always more
dust...

I thought my flat was
relatively clean until all the furniture had been packed and I saw
what was underneath!! So much dust, my poor hoover has never worked
so hard.

9. WiFi makes me happy

We have spent the last 10 days without phone or internet which means we've had to rely on a
very weak 3G signal. Which means my blogging and social media has
had to take a back seat. I did go and borrow my parent's WiFi for a
few hours at the weekend and I managed to do a few important bits
online but I've missed being able to go online when I like and have
instant access, not a Facebook page that takes 10 minutes to load! I
don't think I could ever survive without the internet :-o

10. Moving house is hard
work

Moving house is meant to be
one of the hardest things you'll ever do and I now understand why!
It's exhausting...it's stressful...you'll probably fall out with
your other half....you'll be up to your armpits in boxes for days
after. But it's totally worth it!!

Oh wow, you're moving after 10 years! What a big change! You must be so happy to be in a house now, and a garden - it's looks amazing, so big! And hurray you finally have broadband! I don't know how I would have coped, I think I would have been round my parents' lots haha. I can relate to ALL your points, as we moved just last year. Thank god for family is all I can say! Now for the fun bit, settling in and decorating :-) Sabrina xx #twinklytuesday

I agree with every single one of these! We moved house when Zach was two and it wasn't easy at all. Also point two happened to us. The owners took so long to move out we didn't get the keys until about half three - so much for the day of cleaning planned before we moved our stuff in! Then the guy who was a tenant was still there getting his stuff out! It wasn't quite the romantic move that I had in my head! Worth it in the end though! Congrats on your new home :) Thanks so much for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday

About Me

I'm Elaine, I'm 35 and I live in beautiful Poole on the South Coast. I'm mum to 4 year old Elliot and baby Erin who was born in January 2017.
I write about our days out, local attractions, things to do in Dorset, pregnancy, toy reviews and lots more!